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I moderate a reasonably sized community (50k - 100k users). Without using an external app like Sync or Apollo, it is insanely hard. Their own app is so clunky:

I moderate a reasonably sized community (50k - 100k users). Without using an external app like Sync or Apollo, it is insanely hard. Their own app is so clunky: sometimes it just fails to load posts or the feed. At times the video doesn't load - instead showing a screengrab. The worst offender is that sometimes the UI shows moderator controls for even some communities one doesn't moderate (This is a known bug going on for several months in the official Reddit app and the admins/devs acknowledge it). You have to go about closing the app and clearing the cache. For e.g., here's a screenshot, which shows a warplane subreddit that I don't manage (having mod controls): https://imgur.io/a/4yOY4Vo https://imgur.io/a/4yOY4Vo Keeping third party apps open for Premium users is one way out. Another alternative would be to keep API costs low enough that developers can reasonably pass that cost to subscription users. But the current state would just lead to massive disruption. They will end up killing the golden goose.

commandlinefan 3y ago
Honestly, hearing that killing off third party apps will make moderators have to work harder to do the damage that they do to reddit is the first positive thing I've heard about this API change.
PrimeMcFly 3y ago
> I moderate a reasonably sized community (50k - 100k users). Without using an external app like Sync or Apollo, it is insanely hard. Very doable on desktop with RES though, which so far isn't going to be affected by the API pricing changes.
- SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
  I think a major problem is the conclusion that moderators are hobbled at moderating unless they use a laptop/desktop.
- nicce 3y ago
  It is just a matter of time when they choose to close old.reddit.com which also ends RES
  - PrimeMcFly 3y ago
    If that happens I'll probably give up. If nothing else the reddit redesign consistently logs me out and redirects me back to login after logging in.
    - commandlinefan 3y ago
      Here's hoping that a real viable reddit replacement will come out of all of this.
- srvmshr 3y ago
  Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) is going to be discontinued. Its a third party tool too. You probably missed the announcement a year ago where they announce to be only in maintenance mode and eventually sunsetted As for desktop: Going by last week stats, in my community, there are about 83 posts/day and 969 comments/day on average with 6 posts getting reported for breaking ToS, and numerous other flagged comments. If I am constrained to using a desktop I don't think it is doable. Moderation is a sidehobby, not my main job. I simply cannot keep up with their tools. My tool of choice should be able to highlight new answers quickly, switch between posts and respond reliably. I can't do this by reddit mobile and their new desktop UI. Reddit's old interface won't allow all mod tools (such as assigning removal reasons) and the new UI is half baked. The mobile third party interfaces have been at least reasonably consistent.
  - spinach 3y ago
    You probably missed the announcement a day ago where they mention how things might change with the API update. https://www.reddit.com/r/RESAnnouncements/comments/141hyv3/announcement_res_reddits_upcoming_api_changes/ https://www.reddit.com/r/RESAnnouncements/comments/141hyv3/a...
    - srvmshr 3y ago
      I saw it. But they are not 100% sure either. They think that it should be fine until old.reddit.com remains up - and we hope too. This is basically the last hope at getting something done reliably. If its too hard I'd probably throw in the towel. I cannot invest my time & energy in futility when the parent company itself isn't interested to solve that problem space.
  - PrimeMcFly 3y ago
    > You probably missed the announcement a year ago where they announce to be only in maintenance mode and eventually sunsetted I did, but maintenance mode doesn't have to mean discontinued, it just means the software is stable and will be patched as issues arise. > Its a third party tool too Yup, but explicitly not affected by the API changes. > If I am constrained to using a desktop I don't think it is doable. Moderation is a sidehobby, not my main job. I simply cannot keep up with their tools. The two largest subs I mod are about 500k and 300k respectively. I cover a LOT of the modding by configuring automod which is more capable than people realize, and allowing for self-moderation (if users report X amount of times it gets autoremoved). > My tool of choice should be able to highlight answers quickly, switch between posts and respond reliably. I can't do this by reddit mobile and the new desktop UI. This is exactly how I use RES.
kwanbix 3y ago
I wonder why they don't just buy one of the highest rated apps (boost/sync/apollo), and go with it?
- hmry 3y ago
  They bought Alien Blue and turned it into the official app. I'm sure if they bought Apollo they would find a way to introduce all sorts of bugs (and worse, anti-features like ads and microtransactions) in no time
  - catchnear4321 3y ago
    yes, but this is just the ebb and flow of a corporate application ecosystem. times are tough, pressure increasing, who knows, reddit might be hoping for a bargain basement price for buying a competitor to reboot their mobile ux. a new competitor will arise to fill that void. some jaded user writes something better, at no cost to the company, inspired by what once was and what could be - the virtuous cycle of growth begins anew. …oh right, that would require non-cost-prohibitive third party access. welp…
  - cowsup 3y ago
    They bought Alien Blue, made it official, and then completely re-wrote the app from the ground-up into what we have today. I don't even understand why they bought Alien Blue; it seems as though nothing from that app made it into the eventual standalone Reddit app we have today. If you downloaded Alien Blue on an old device, you can still use it today, because the standalone Reddit app is a separate application in the app store altogether.
    - nemothekid 3y ago
      >I don't even understand why they bought Alien Blue; I'm pretty sure they bought the audience. Reddit did not have an app before this, and Alien Blue was by far the most popular one. It was subsequently abandoned and that's how Apollo was born. Even Apollo doesn't have some of the features that Alien Blue had.
- 3y ago
moneywoes 3y ago
What benefits do you get from moderation?
- srvmshr 3y ago
  No benefit. I am just passionate about some topics & I try to maintain a good discussion with scientific temper around it. I do the same work as @dang would here, without the pay and with a little more unreasonable users. (Its not hard to believe HN is the most behaved discussion platform on internet)

commandlinefan 3y ago

Honestly, hearing that killing off third party apps will make moderators have to work harder to do the damage that they do to reddit is the first positive thing I've heard about this API change.

PrimeMcFly 3y ago

> I moderate a reasonably sized community (50k - 100k users). Without using an external app like Sync or Apollo, it is insanely hard. Very doable on desktop with RES though, which so far isn't going to be affected by the API pricing changes.

SamoyedFurFluff 3y ago
I think a major problem is the conclusion that moderators are hobbled at moderating unless they use a laptop/desktop.
nicce 3y ago
It is just a matter of time when they choose to close old.reddit.com which also ends RES
- PrimeMcFly 3y ago
  If that happens I'll probably give up. If nothing else the reddit redesign consistently logs me out and redirects me back to login after logging in.
  - commandlinefan 3y ago
    Here's hoping that a real viable reddit replacement will come out of all of this.
srvmshr 3y ago
Reddit Enhancement Suite (RES) is going to be discontinued. Its a third party tool too. You probably missed the announcement a year ago where they announce to be only in maintenance mode and eventually sunsetted As for desktop: Going by last week stats, in my community, there are about 83 posts/day and 969 comments/day on average with 6 posts getting reported for breaking ToS, and numerous other flagged comments. If I am constrained to using a desktop I don't think it is doable. Moderation is a sidehobby, not my main job. I simply cannot keep up with their tools. My tool of choice should be able to highlight new answers quickly, switch between posts and respond reliably. I can't do this by reddit mobile and their new desktop UI. Reddit's old interface won't allow all mod tools (such as assigning removal reasons) and the new UI is half baked. The mobile third party interfaces have been at least reasonably consistent.
- spinach 3y ago
  You probably missed the announcement a day ago where they mention how things might change with the API update. https://www.reddit.com/r/RESAnnouncements/comments/141hyv3/announcement_res_reddits_upcoming_api_changes/ https://www.reddit.com/r/RESAnnouncements/comments/141hyv3/a...
  - srvmshr 3y ago
    I saw it. But they are not 100% sure either. They think that it should be fine until old.reddit.com remains up - and we hope too. This is basically the last hope at getting something done reliably. If its too hard I'd probably throw in the towel. I cannot invest my time & energy in futility when the parent company itself isn't interested to solve that problem space.
- PrimeMcFly 3y ago
  > You probably missed the announcement a year ago where they announce to be only in maintenance mode and eventually sunsetted I did, but maintenance mode doesn't have to mean discontinued, it just means the software is stable and will be patched as issues arise. > Its a third party tool too Yup, but explicitly not affected by the API changes. > If I am constrained to using a desktop I don't think it is doable. Moderation is a sidehobby, not my main job. I simply cannot keep up with their tools. The two largest subs I mod are about 500k and 300k respectively. I cover a LOT of the modding by configuring automod which is more capable than people realize, and allowing for self-moderation (if users report X amount of times it gets autoremoved). > My tool of choice should be able to highlight answers quickly, switch between posts and respond reliably. I can't do this by reddit mobile and the new desktop UI. This is exactly how I use RES.

kwanbix 3y ago

I wonder why they don't just buy one of the highest rated apps (boost/sync/apollo), and go with it?

hmry 3y ago
They bought Alien Blue and turned it into the official app. I'm sure if they bought Apollo they would find a way to introduce all sorts of bugs (and worse, anti-features like ads and microtransactions) in no time
- catchnear4321 3y ago
  yes, but this is just the ebb and flow of a corporate application ecosystem. times are tough, pressure increasing, who knows, reddit might be hoping for a bargain basement price for buying a competitor to reboot their mobile ux. a new competitor will arise to fill that void. some jaded user writes something better, at no cost to the company, inspired by what once was and what could be - the virtuous cycle of growth begins anew. …oh right, that would require non-cost-prohibitive third party access. welp…
- cowsup 3y ago
  They bought Alien Blue, made it official, and then completely re-wrote the app from the ground-up into what we have today. I don't even understand why they bought Alien Blue; it seems as though nothing from that app made it into the eventual standalone Reddit app we have today. If you downloaded Alien Blue on an old device, you can still use it today, because the standalone Reddit app is a separate application in the app store altogether.
  - nemothekid 3y ago
    >I don't even understand why they bought Alien Blue; I'm pretty sure they bought the audience. Reddit did not have an app before this, and Alien Blue was by far the most popular one. It was subsequently abandoned and that's how Apollo was born. Even Apollo doesn't have some of the features that Alien Blue had.
3y ago

moneywoes 3y ago

What benefits do you get from moderation?

srvmshr 3y ago
No benefit. I am just passionate about some topics & I try to maintain a good discussion with scientific temper around it. I do the same work as @dang would here, without the pay and with a little more unreasonable users. (Its not hard to believe HN is the most behaved discussion platform on internet)